bbc.com – By News from Elsewhere… …media reports from around the world, found by BBC Monitoring Face time: The new app will reward people who put down their smartphones Three students in Singapore have won funding to develop an app which encourages people to stop using their smartphones, it’s reported. The app, called Apple Tree, is designed to make people spend time talking face-to-face with family and friends, instead of being glued to their screens, The Straits Times website reports.